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Friday, July 26, 2013

This is why we’re here

If you’ve read our blog in the past, you’ve probably picked up on our reasons for leaving the States, hauling our young family overseas, and serving at RVA. If you need a refresher, please read this.

God had given us both a heart for missionaries in Africa who work tirelessly to spread the gospel among the least reached peoples, specifically missionaries with children.

We knew coming out that RVA’s mission was to provide a safe, quality, Christ-centered education for the children of missionaries. After one year of being immersed in this ministry ourselves, we continue to be impressed with the mission of this school and those who help carry it out.

There has been a real push recently for discipleship and mentoring relationships between staff and students, challenging kids to go deeper in their walk with the Lord. The relationships these kids build with dorm parents and teachers are extremely important as trusting in Jesus Christ moves beyond their parent’s faith and becomes their own, though not all of them have a relationship with the Lord. Being the child of a missionary in no way guarantees salvation and there are those here whose hearts have not yet been opened.

One of our favorite parts about being here is meeting the families we are serving. We continue to love learning about what our students’ parents are doing and where; how they are sharing Christ in some of the hardest reached places, corners of the continent where it’s not easy or where tribes have been overlooked. At one point in the year Dan asked his students for exactly that information, wording it as “Why are you at RVA?”

Here are some of their responses, in their own words :)

“[RVA] is the best schooling option for me. My parents live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and drill and repair boreholes in rural areas.”

“God has led my parents to work at Kijabe hospital (my dad is an anesthesiologist and my mom works with the Maasai.)”

“My parents hold seminars that train young people for missions. They both work in Mozambique.”

“My parents are missionaries to Cairo.”

“There are no good schools where I live. My parents build churches out in the villages of Mwanza, Tanzania.”

“My dad is a missionary in South Sudan and Ethiopia.”

“My parents are working in Malawi. They work with AIDS orphans.”

“My parents are missionaries in Uganda. My dad is a pastor so he preaches and my mom is a nurse.”

“My parents work in Tanzania and they are working at an orphanage and in the national schools.”

“My parents run an orphanage in Maai Mahiu [near Kijabe, Kenya]”

“My parents work in Madagascar as missionaries. My dad’s a surgeon.”

“My parents are missionaries in Kenya and Tanzania translating the Bible into different languages.”

“My parents travel all over Africa helping people with disabilities.”

“My dad is a missionary, a member of Parliament and an assistant minister of environment. My mom teaches and they’re both in Kenya.”

“My parents [run] an orphanage, a baking school, do soccer team support, and my mom is a nurse.”

“My mom is an author and my dad is a pastor.”

“My dad is a pilot in Kenya.”

It may be Ethiopia, Egypt, or Madagascar. It may be Bible translation, orphan care, or church planting. The roles, responsibilities, and missions organizations look different, but the motivation is the same.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10

Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A: That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; he has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven: in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.